Monday, January 19, 2009

An Interesting Day Out!

For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

Yesterday I went out with the Gympie Field Naturalists club. I had hoped to see lots of little bush birds so I could get photos and help with IDs at the same time – but – the only bird we saw that I don't usually see around my yard was the Peaceful Dove (Geopelia humeralis)
So the rest of this post is NOT about birds but instead about all the other little flying things – both rather beautiful and distinctly menacing! Part of the fun of belonging to a club like this is the number of people who know an enormous amount about all things other than birds. So when I was wandering along looking wistfully up into the trees for the birds that weren't there - I was urged to look down and see everything else that was flying around! So I took the photos and others – especially Kelvin! - told me IDs. I had left my camera on all the wrong settings so I have done quite a bit of PP to make the photos better (and have taken off exif data which is now not relevant.)
Common Australian Crow Butterfly (Euploea core corrina)
Black and White Tiger Butterfly (Danaus affinis affinis)
Orange Palmdart Butterfly (Cephrenes augiades sperthias)
Fiery Skimmer (Dragonfly) (Orthetrum villosovittatum)
Robber fly species (Someone might know a more precise name for this.) This one looks distinctly menacing to me and apparently they catch other insects and suck their juices out.
P.S.Definitely back to birds next time!

21 comments:

  1. That robber fly --- my fave pic of the selection, btw --- looks big enough to tackle the peaceful dove!

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  2. Your dove looks wonderful with the blue in its face and the scarf like pattern around its neck. It looks all dressed up and ready to go out and socialize. I liked your insects too. They always fascinate me. So its nice seeing other people interested in the bug world too.

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  3. Hi Mick
    Great photos I especially like the Peaceful Dove great detail.

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  4. Hi Snail, nasty looking beastie I think! Not supposed to bite humans apparently, tho'.
    Thanks NM. The dove has a very nice call too.
    Thanks Neil.

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  5. Love your Peaceful Dove. It is one I do not readily recognise.
    Butterflies et al are nice residents of the Tropical/Sub-Tropical region. We have a few here but nothing like the selection up north.

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  6. Nice photos Mick! I especially like the peaceful dove pics. It's nice to see other variety of doves. The mourning dove is the only dove we get at our feeders.

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  7. I like the dove shot, the insects are very nice also!

    Good birding (and bugging) to you!

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  8. Hi Mick
    Robber Flies definitely do catch other insects, and suck them dry. Not sure I'd trust them on my neck!
    .
    I went away to Mudgee for 3 days and was surrounded by Peaceful Doves. I fell in love with them. Didn't get any decent images, though. So, well done with yours.
    Cheers
    Denis

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  9. Thanks Arija, Alan, Birdfreak and Denis for visiting and commenting. The peaceful dove is one of my favorites, too. re the bugs and 'bities' - could do with a few less of them at times!

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  10. G'day Mick,
    Well done with the Lepidoptera. You now have another string to your bow. Lovely post.
    Gouldiae

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  11. Love the Peaceful Dove Mick. Much smarter than our Collared Dove - is it as 'peaceful' as the name suggests?

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  12. Thanks Gouldiae, but I had to go and check what 'lepidoptera' included - so unlikely that I will be including too many details re those on the blog!
    Thanks EB, too. I think its a lovely little bird. I hear it in the trees but not when they are down on the ground hunting for food. Then they just go quietly about their own business!

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  13. Truly beautiful shots of the Peaceful Dove Mick! What a gorgeous bird. Beautiful colors and feather patterns shown very nicely in your excellent captures of them.

    The butterflies and dragonflies are cool also. We get to appreciate them in the summer around our pond.

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  14. Mick - I envy you having flutters and dragons - in January!!

    The Peaceful dove is interesting - nothing really like anything we get here.

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  15. You've got that new camera working Mick, I especially like the Peaceful Dove and the Fiery Skimmers.

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  16. Hey Mick - Great shots of the dragon fly. Keep up the good work. Craig @ Brock Photography.

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  17. Pictures look pretty good to me. Love the robber fly.

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  18. Your Peaceful Dove is gorgeous with its ruffled neck :)

    Despite your admitted PP work, those insect pics are stellar! Good job.

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  19. The Peaceful Dove looks so much like the Zebra Dove of my native country - the Philippines.

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  20. Thanks to all for visiting and commenting.

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  21. Mick, thanks for stopping by and great posts whch I enjoy so much reading them.

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